India has acquired number one status in the world contributing around 15% of world’s milk production during 2007-08, yet the meat production, which vibes well with dairy, is very low.

Meat production is around 2% of the world meat production.

The major key issues of concern in the meat sector of India is processing status. Quality and hygiene levels are very low along with tremendous waste of meat, contamination/deterioration of meat and also the avoidable cruelty to the animals.

Poultry Industry : India:

The Poultry Business in India is a very old practice and this food industry is one of the important contributors to the economy of rural and semi-urban India.

India ranks seventeenth in the world poultry production index.

Further, India is the fifth largest producer of eggs and ninth largest producer of poultry meat amongst all the countries.

Indian Poultry Industry is 5,000 years old, since last 4 decades it began to witness remarkable growth from backyard to poultry industry.

The organized sector of poultry industry is contributing nearly 70% of the total output and the rest 30% in the unorganized sector.

The broiler industry is well dominated in southern states in our country with nearly 60-70% total output coming from these states.

The layer industry once again is represented more in southern states especially, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra producing nearly 70% of the country’s egg production.

India’s 75% of egg produce is consumed by the 25% population living in urban and semi-urban areas. Presently more than 800 hatcheries are operating in the country.

India has emerged as the only country in the developing world a self-reliant, technology driven industry, with capability to produce every essential input for successful poultry farming including indigenous genetic resource and breeding, world class poultry vaccines and medicines, specific pathogen free eggs (SPF), farms and hatchery automation systems, pelleted feed, egg processing, poultry processing, nationwide network of disease diagnostic laboratories and facilities for entrepreneurial development and training in both private and public sectors.

Rural Poultry:

Rural poultry production constitutes important component of agricultural economy in India, small poultry holder are practically capable of more significant contribution to alleviate malnutrition, poverty and unemployment.

A spectacular progress has been made from subsistence to sustainable production system. Indian backyard population increase is only by 16% in the last 30 years from 60 to 70 million.

China’s 76% of total egg comes from rural backyard production.India requires both mass production as well as production by masses.

The annual growth rate of egg is 5 to 8%. India has the lowest cost of egg production in the world at 2.55 US cents per egg.

However, the poultry production and consumption in the domestic market is slated to grow. Indian poultry industry has been a major contributor to the food-processing sector in the country. From backyard activity to major commercial operation the poultry sector has undergone a paradigm shift.

In last 4 decades, Poultry farming in India has transformed from a mere tool of supplementary income and nutritious food for the family to the major commercial activity generating the required revenue.

The growth of the industry with steady production of 1,800 million kg of poultry meat, 40 billion egg per year and employment generation of about 3 million people indicates the future prospects for the industry.

Changing food habits, rising income of the middle class Indian, presence of private players, rising market demand of the Indian poultry produce in the export market are some of the contributing factors to the growth of the industry.

The biggest challenge is low availability of adequate infrastructural facilities, inadequately developed linkages between R&D; labs and industry and unawareness about hygienic practices the Indian Meat and Poultry Market stands at a low position in respect to the global markets.

The integration of development in contemporary technologies such as electronics, material science, bio-technology etc. offer vast scope for rapid improvement and progress and opening of the global markets

National Meat and Poultry Processing Board

National Meat and Poultry Processing Board is an autonomous body launched by Government of India on 19th Feb 2009.

The Board would initially be funded by the Government of India for two years and would be managed by the industry itself.

This apex body is launched to work as a National hub for addressing all key issues related to Meat and Poultry processing sector for the systematic and proper development of this sector.

The Board would serve as a single window service provider for producers/manufacturers and exporters of meat and meat products, for promoting & regulating the meat industry, as a whole and it would result in large number of employment opportunities.

It would also help the rural farmers for increasing their income. The Board will also help industry to utilize slaughterhouse waste materials, set up quality control laboratories for meat and meat products, promote meat manufacturers to adopt Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems, ISO-9001: 2000 standards, help industry to create and disseminate data, train workers and technicians and work as a central and National hub to address meat-related issues.